A construction worker held his girlfriend hostage on a Chinese rooftop after her parents reportedly refused to approve their marriage.

Hundreds of onlookers and armed police watched as the man stripped to his underwear and ordered his girlfriend to do the same so she would be shamed in front of their neighbours.

He announced he was going to kill her and claimed the 29-year-old regularly had affairs when he went to work, reports said.

Terrifying: The man, who later stripped naked, was surrounded by police snipers in Sanya, China.

Siege: Identified in reports only as Lin, the man took off his shirt in the five-hour standoff with police

The man waved the meat cleaver around as shocked onlookers called police. He reportedly took his girlfriend onto the roof after her parents refused to give their blessing to the couple’s marriage

The man then stripped to his underwear and forced his terrified girlfriend to do the same, reportedly to shame her in front of their neighbours. Some reports said he had suspected her of having affairs

At one point the man, identified as a 32-year-old named Lin, stripped completely naked.

He held his girlfriend by the throat and waved the meat cleaver in the air as trained negotiators tried to talk him down from the roof of the quiet residential block.

The man’s relatives were brought to the scene on Monday to try and talk him down but had little luck.

As police and soldiers surrounded the rooftop, the half-naked kidnapper demanded a getaway car for himself and his girlfriend.

As the man came down into the square, still holding his girlfriend, he was chased by police and army officer

Law enforcement officers make their first contact with the man, who finally lets go of his hostage

Hundreds of onlookers had gathered in the square as the dangerous standoff reached its finale

Eventually police provided one and, still holding his terrified partner, the man put his jeans back on and climbed down from the roof into a city square.

But as he made his way towards the car officers gave chase, managing to pull him away from his girlfriend and throw him to the ground.

Still topless, he was handcuffed in front of hundreds of stunned onlookers and led away.

The man now faces a lengthy jail term – and according to reports, not even his own parents had approved the marriage in the first place.